Mystery Man
by A Very Crisscolfer Fangirl
Summary: Chris has a date. But who is his date? Lea and Ashley try to find out. Crisscolfer fic.
1. Chapter 1

"Hey, we're having a movie and pizza night at my place tomorrow. Are you in?" Chris looked up from his phone. He was so caught up in his texting that he hadn't even heard her enter the room.

"I'd love to, but I can't." Chris smiled at Ashley.

"Why not? What could possibly be more important than having pizza and crying over a sad movie with your friends?" She asked and sat down next to him.

"I've got this thing." Chris made a vague gesture with his hand.

"What thing, 'cause if it's work you're coming because you work too hard." It was true, the kid really worked too hard. Ashley was surprised he hadn't had a breakdown yet.

"It's not work." Chris told her without any further explanation.

"Then what is it?" She was curious. What was Chris doing when he wasn't working? Probably realizing he wasn't working and then work some more.

Chris sighed. "I've got a date." He admitted.

"A date?" Ashley certainly didn't see that one coming. "Spill! Who is it, do I know him?" She practically yelled at him.

"Ash, it's very new, you know. This is only our third date." Chris explained.

"Oh, third date. Wouldn't want to interrupt that!" She said with a knowing smile.

"Ashley!" He yelled and smacked her on the arm.

"I'm sorry." She laughed. Her face became a little serious again. "But seriously, who is the guy, because he's stealing my man and I have to check on him. Just to make sure he's good enough for you."

Chris just chuckled at her protectiveness. "I'm not gonna tell you his name." Ashley gave him her best puppy eyes, but he didn't fall for it. "Like I said, we're not really serious yet. I don't want to give you false hope."

He stood up and started to walk away.

"I'll find out, Colfer!" She yelled after him.

"How would you do that?" He replied without turning around.

"I've got ways!" She informed him.

"I don't even want to know!" He yelled back and waked around the corner.

When Chris was out of eyesight Ashley spotted Lea at the other side of the cafeteria. She sat next to Lea. Lea had more scenes with Chris, so maybe she knew something more.

"Lea, do you know who is dating Chris?" Ashley asked her directly.

Lea almost spit out her coffee. "Chris has a boyfriend?" She half coughed.

"Well no, but he said he had a date" Ashley petted her on her back and handed her a napkin.

She wiped off her mouth and caught her breath. "Oh my god. I'm gonna kill him for not telling me! Who is it?" She asked.

"I don't know." Ashley answered. "That's why I'm asking you. He didn't want to tell me his name."

"That means we know him!" Lea squealed with a smile.

"Or he doesn't want us to do a background check on the guy." Ashley said and Lea's face fell.

"We have to find out who it is." Lea said.

"Agreed, if my boy is getting some ass I have to approve of him." Ashley told her. She looked scarily serious to Lea.

"But how?" Lea asked and looked thoughtful.

"I don't know yet, but I'll come up with something. Well, my break is over. I'll talk to you later to start operation 'Colfer's mystery man', okey?"

"Yes, first thing we've gotta do is come up with a better name." Lea said and gave Ashley a hug goodbye.

The next morning Chris arrived on set. His body arrived, his mind was still in his bed.

His alarm clock had ran out of battery and he had woken up an hour late. Which meant that he hadn't even had time for his coffee.

"Good morning sunshine!" Ashley greeted him cheerfully. Then she took a better look at him. "You look like a zombie." She said.

"You always know just what to say to make me feel special." He said sarcastically.

She poked him is his side. "Come on, don't be so down. You should be excited." She said.

Chris slapped her hand away. "Why should I be exited? I'm so tired." He growled.

"Because of your date, you silly." Her voice sounded a little teasing when she said the word ' date'.

Chris' eyes widened. "Oh my god, I completely forgot about that!" It was true, he hadn't even had the time to look at his phone. So he hadn't received any texts yet.

"Well, it is your lucky day Mr. Colfer." He gave her a confused look. "Your first scene was canceled." She quickly explained.

"Great, so I came here for nothing."

"At least you can go take a nap now. Oh, and by the way, we have to stay on set an hour longer tonight, Ryan wanted to talk about some scene he had in mind." She informed him.

"Thanks for telling me." He sighed. "I'll be in my trailer, sleeping. If I'm not up in an hour and a half, please come wake me?" He asked her. It was a normal question, right? Why was she grinning like that?

"Of course." She pecked him on the cheek and got her phone out of her purse.

Chris walked to his trailer. He checked his phone and typed a few quick replies before he went to sleep.

Ashley immediately texted Lea after Chris had left.

**To Lea:**

_You. Cafeteria. NOW!_

**To Ashley:**

_What`s wrong?_

**To Lea:**

_I have a plan. But it has to happen now!_

**To Ashley:**

_On my way._

Ten minutes later, Lea came running in the cafeteria. She looked for Ashley and spotted her at a table alone in the back.

"What's the plan?" She asked, a little out of breath.

"We've gotta get his phone!" Ashley whisper-shouted.

"Why?" She asked a little confused.

Ashley gave Lea her 'Are you stupid' look. "He's been texting with that guy yesterday."

"How do you know it was him?" Lea asked. Now she was the one to help her friend out of her dream.

But Ashley didn't buy it. "Have you got ears? He was giggling like a school girl!"

"So, what's the plan?" Lea was curious now.

"Right." Ashley sat up a little straighter. "So, he's taking a nap now. I suggest that we sneak in to his trailer and steal his phone. Then we search through his texts to find the identity of Mr. Mystery." Ashley was clearly proud of her plan.

"That's your evil plan?" Lea asked. "We steal his phone?"

"Yeah, what's wrong with it?" Ashley really couldn't see the problem.

"It's just a little simple."

"Do you have a better idea?" Ashley asked with a bitch-face.

Lea thought for a moment, but she couldn't think of anything else that might work. "Okey, good point."

They walked across the lot to Chris' trailer. One window was a tiny bit open and Ashley heard a soft snoring noise coming out of the trailer.

"He's asleep." She whispered to Lea.

They snuck around the trailer to the door. Lea checked if it was open. She opened the door and closed it quickly again.

"You should go in there." Ashley whispered.

Lea's eyes widened. "What, why me?"

"Because you're better at sneaking around."

Ashley had a point. Lea ask was always sneaking up on people. "Fine, I'll do it." She sighed.

Lea quietly opened the door and got in the trailer. She saw Chris stretched out on the small couch. He was sounds asleep and in his hand was his phone. Well shit.

She sighed and slowly walked over to the sleeping boy. She almost bummed in to the coffee table. She slipped the phone out of Chris' hand, but he started to make grabby hands towards Lea.

She panicked and put the first thing she could find in his hand, which was the remote controller to his stereo.

She quickly got out of the trailer and shut the door. He held her treasure in the air so Ashley could see her mission was accomplished.

"I literally had to take it out of his hand." She said not bothering to keep her voice down.

"Yeah, whatever. Now, give me that." Ashley grabbed the phone from Lea and unlocked the touchscreen.

She saw that Chris hadn't closed his last texts-conversation. Her jaw dropped when she saw the name on the little screen.

"So, who is it? Do we know him?" Lea asked jumping up and down.

"Eh, yes. We do." Ashley had found her voice again.

"Then, who is it?" Lea yelled.


	2. Chapter 2

"It's Darren." Ashley's eyes were glued on the small screen in her hand.

Lea's eyes widened at Ashley's words. "What? No way!" She yelled. She started laughing. There was no way it could be Darren. "You just read the wrong texts." She laughed.

"No, I didn't." Ashley was absolutely sure about it.

"Give me that." Lea grabbed the phone from Ashley's hands. She looked at the screen.

**To Darren:**

_Can you pick me up an hour later tonight? Work…_

**To Chris:**

_Sure we can probably still catch the last movie. X_

**To Darren:**

_Thanks. See you tonight._

**To Chris:**

_Can`t wait._

"Oh my god." It really was Darren.

Ashley's brain was trying to come up with a logical explanation. "Wait, maybe it's some other dude named Darren." She took the phone from Lea again. Ashley pressed some buttons and held it to her ear.

"What are you doing?" Lea hissed.

"I'm calling him." It really seemed like a good idea to Ashley.

"What, no!" Lea yelled. How could she be so stupid? But she was curious too. Somehow she managed to get in a position where they could both hear who was on the other end.

"Hey handsome." The voice on the other side said.

Oh yeah, this was Chris' phone. The girls didn't say anything. It was Darren. Darren as in Darren Criss.

"Chris, are you still there?" Darren's voice was concerned. Ashley panicked and hung up.

"It's really him." Ashley squealed after a moment of silence.

"That is awesome!" Lea screamed. She jumped up and down clapping her hands.

"Finally!" Ashley sighed and did a happy dance.

The door of Chris' trailer swung open and a very sleepy and very grumpy Chris stood in the doorway. The girls froze on the spot. "Guys, can you stop screaming, I'm sort of trying to sleep in here."

"Yeah, of course." Lea said. She straightened her shirt and tried to not look like a hysterical high school girl.

"Sorry." Ashley gave him a apologetic smile.

"Is that my phone?" His gaze dropped to the phone in Ashley's hand. His face got incredibly pale when he realized what was on that phone.

"Oh, yeah. You ehm..." Ashley stopped half way the sentence and looked at the phone in her hand. What was she supposed to say? ' Yes it is. You see, Lea and I couldn't wait for you to tell us who you were seeing. So we broke in to your trailer and stole your phone when you were asleep.' No that wouldn't work out very well.

"You left it in the cafeteria." Lea finished her sentence. Thank god for Lea's incredible lying skills.

"No, I didn't." Chris simply denied.

"You did." Ashley told him. She hoped he would just go with it.

"No I didn't. I'm pretty sure that, before I went to sleep, I've texted..." He trailed off. "Never mind." He said quickly. "Thanks for bringing it back."

"Eh, yeah. There you go." Ashley handed him the phone.

"You didn't, like, read anything or see any pictures, right?" He blushed a little.

Wait, pictures?

"No, of course not." Lea assured him.

"What could possibly be that interesting on your phone?" Ashley asked before she could even think about her words.

"Nothing, you're right. Thanks." Chris disappeared in his trailer again.

They started to walk away. Lea turned to Ashley. "That was close." She made sure she was whispering now.

Chris was fixing his hair in the mirror when the doorbell rang. He grabbed his phone and wallet from the coffee table and walked to the door.

"Hey." Darren was leaning against the doorframe.

"Hi." Chris breathed. He wasn't nervous. This wasn't their first date, but something about Darren made Chris feel like a teenager.

Darren stood up straight. He smiled at Chris. That made Chris' heart jump. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah, I'll just get my jacket." Chris searched through the closet next to the front door and put on a jacket. He walked out of the door and closed it behind him.

Darren took this moment to really look at him. Chris looked beautiful. He was wearing simple jeans and a button up with the leather jacket he had just put on.

Whenever they went out together they would dress casual. So that, if they would get caught on picture, they could pass it off as ' just friends '.

"You look stunning by the way." Darren finally said when they walked to the exit of the building.

Chris looked down at himself. "Is it too much? I thought this would be casual enough."

"It's prefect. It's casual, but stunning." Darren told him. "As always." He added.

Chris blushed slightly at his compliment. "Thanks, you look very handsome yourself."

"Thank you." Darren smiled.

They left the building and got in the car. Darren told the driver the address of the cinema.

"What movie are we going to see?" Darren had organized this date, so Chris had no idea what he had planned for tonight.

Darren had also planned their first date. They had had coffee together and talked for hours.

Chris had planned their second date. They had had sushi and, again, talked and laughed for hours.

Their get togethers were called dates and they felt like dates, but they both hated that they couldn't act like they were on a date in public.

"Woman in black." Darren answered.

"Ah, Daniel Radcliffe." Chris chuckled at Darren's Harry Potter obsession.

"You got me." He held his hands up. He didn't tell Chris that he hoped they could snuggle into each other because the movie was a bit scary.

They spend the rest of the drive chatting about Harry Potter and their other shared dorky obsessions. Since they were in a car where no one could see them, they were holding hands. It surprised Darren that such a small thing could mean so much to him.

They didn't even notice they had arrived. When they got in the cinema they bought their tickets. Darren insisted on paying because it was his turn.

After they had bought the tickets they got an XL and a small popcorn ( "Seriously Dare? You are a tiny guy, are you sure you can eat all that?" "Very funny." ) they got in the darker hall. No one had recognized them and they would like to keep it that way.

The movie wouldn't start right away. They were the first ones to take their seats, so they chatted for a while. Then Chris took out his phone and checked his e-mail.

Darren let out a sigh and took the phone from him. He slipped his arm around Chris' waist, kept his head close to Chris' and took a picture.

The movie started and Darren have Chris back his phone. They got comfortable in their seats and Darren took Chris' hand in his. Chris thought about protesting, but he figured it was too dark for anyone to see.


	3. Chapter 3

After the movie Darren dropped Chris off at his apartment. It was nine o'clock and they weren't tired yet.

"Do you wanna come in fit a bit?" Chris suggested.

"Yeah, sure." Darren smiled at him. He told the driver he would take a cab to get home and followed Chris to the frontdoor.

Chris opened the door and led them to the livingroom after taking their jackets off and throwing them in the messy closet next to Chris' frontdoor. They sat down on the couch.

Chris broke the comfortable silence. "Do you wanna drink something?" He asked.

"Oh yeah. Do you have applejuice?" Darren asked.

"I think so." Chris got up and walked to the kitchen. Darren heard him searching trough the fridge and a minute later Chris returned with a diet coke and a bottle of Darren's favorite applejuice.

He put the drinks down on the coffee table and sat down next to Darren.

"Come here." Darren laughed and pulled Chris closer by his waist.

Chris wrapped his arms around Darren's neck and leaned in slowly. Their lips met for the first time that night and they both had missed it so much.

The kiss got deeper and they had both completely forgotten about their drinks, or the rest of the world for that matter.

Darren laid Chris down in the cushions and hovered above him. They never broke the contact of their lips. Chris rested his hands on Darren's lower back and Darren brought his hands up to Chris' shoulders. He massaged them slowly for a moment.

Darren brought his hands to the collar of Chris' shirt and started fiddling with the top button.

It took Chris a while to notice, but when he did his eyes flew open. He broke the kiss by pushing at Darren's chest. "Whoa." He said. "Wait wait wait."

"It's okey, I've brought protection." Darren tried to pick up where Chris had stopped him, but Chris pushed him away a little further.

He sat up and Darren did the same. Darren looked very confused at him. "No, that's not it. Just" Chris paused for a moment. "not ready." He finished.

Darren looked away. "Okey, that's" He searched for the right word. "fine."

Chris felt guilty. He felt like he should explain. "Shit, this is embarrassing." He whispered to himself. He turned to Darren. "Dare, let me explain." He said.

"No, you don't have to." Darren assured him. "I was moving to fast, I'm sorry."

Chris sighed. "It's just I've- ehm, I'm-" He paused again. He closed his eyes and took a breath. "I'm still a virgin." He whispered. A part of him hoped that Darren hadn't heard that, because he was shamed of it. An other part of him hoped Darren had heard it, because he really didn't want to say it again.

After a moment of silence, Darren spoke up. "Oh, that's nothing to be shamed of." Chris opened his eyes. "I think it's sweet." Darren added.

"No it's not, it's stupid." Chris said. "It just never felt right." He explained.

"You don't have to apologize." Darren put his hands on Chris' forearms. "There is no need to rush things, we have all the time of the world. This is a big deal, just wait until you're ready." He finished with a kiss on Chris' nose.

"Thank you." Chris said and hugged him. "Do you wanna watch a movie?" Chris asked. They had just watched a movie, but Chris didn't want Darren to go yet.

Darren's eyes lit up. "Can we watch Mulan?"

"Of course." Chris laughed. He got up and put the dvd on. He went back to sit next to Darren.

Darren moved in closer and Chris wrapped his arms around him. "Can I-" Darren hesitated for a moment. "Can I ask you why?"

"Why, what?" Chris asked, his eyes glued on the screen, but he wasn't really watching.

"Why you've never, you know. I mean, you've had boyfriends and you're very hot. I don't see how you can be a virgin." Darren explained.

Chris had hoped this conversation had ended five minutes ago, but no such luck. Of course Darren wanted him to be open to him.

"It just never felt right." Chris said, not looking at Darren.

"Yeah, you've said that already. What do you mean by it, though?" Darren knew there was something Chris wasn't telling him. Something important.

"Back at Colvis there weren't really any options." Was Chris' answer.

"What about your boyfriends?"

"I just," Chris took a breath. "I never trusted them." Darren gave him a questioning look. "I have a very busy life. Work has always got my first priority, which means I don't have a lot of time left. I've had more boyfriends that you know about, but I never got really serious with them because I knew how it would end."

Darren looked confused. "What are you saying?"

"I was never there. So they've all cheated on me." Chris said. He had never told anybody this. He felt vulnerable, but not uncomfortable.

Darren wasn't expecting that. How could somebody ever do that to Chris? How could somebody ever break him like that? "All of them?" He asked.

Chris nodded. "Yes, every single one."

Darren hugged him. "I'm so sorry." He whispered in Chris' ear. He was not entirely sure what he was saying sorry for. Was he saying it because of how those jerks had treated Chris? Or was he saying it because he had made Chris tell it?

Now he had started it he was going to tell the whole story. "I just stopped trusting them and I stopped letting them get close because I knew how it would end. And I didn't want my first time to be with just some guy."

"I understand." Darren said and sat up.

"Don't get me wrong," Chris quickly said. "you're not just some guy, you're different. I trust you. It's just a little to soon for me." He said.

"That's okey, I'm so glad you told me that." Darren kissed his cheek.

"As I said, you're different." Chris kissed Darren's lips. It was a sweet, relaxed kiss. It didn't lead to anything more and it was perfect.


	4. Chapter 4

Ashley pushed a tomato around her plate. She was Chris' best friend. He trusted her and she had abused that trust. "I feel bad." She told Lea. Lea looked up from her own salad. "If Chris wanted it to be a secret we should have let him."

"Yeah." Lea looked down again. "Maybe we just shouldn't tell him we know. What he doesn't know won't hurt him, right? We can pretend that we don't know who it is. I mean, it's kind of our job."

"Yeah." Ashley said. If he didn't know about it he wouldn't get mad at them. "But still, we stole his phone, that's not right."

"Come on, we would have found out anyways." Lea smiled.

"Yeah, but he would have told us when he wanted us you know." Ashley said. Then she remembered something. "Okey, I have to ask, did he say pictures, or did I just make that up in my mind?" She asked.

Lea grinned. "He totally did! Who knows what is on that phone." She said with a smug smile.

It took Ashley a moment to realize what she was talking about. "No, no not the pictures you are thinking about." She assured Lea. "Chris wouldn't." She laughed."No."

"He doesn't want us to see them, what else could it be?" Lea put a piece of cucumber in get mouth and chewed.

Ashley rolled her eyes. "Maybe just cute pictures of them together."

Lea put her fork down and stood up. "Let's go find out!" She walked to the door.

"What? No Lea, we are not doing this again." Ashley stopped the smaller women by taking her wrist. "You just admitted you felt bad about it."

"As long as he doesn't know everything is fine." Lea told her and tried to release her wrist from Ashley's grip.

"We almost got busted last time. You shouldn't be doing this." She let go if Lea's wrist. She was glad to see the brunette stood still.

"I know." Lea said and walked trough the door.

"Where are you going?" Ashley asked her.

"I'm going to check those pictures out." Lea yelled over her shoulder.

Ashley sighed and started chasing Lea down the hall. "How are you even gonna do that? He is in dancerehearsal right now."

"Perfect." Lea said and picked up her speed and Ashley had trouble keeping up.

"He is not asleep, how are you going to steal that thing?" Ashley asked her. She hoped Lea hadn't thought about that.

"He is not dancing with his phone in his pocket. That means all you have to do is distract him and I'll get the phone out of his bag." Lea said, still rapidly making her way to the dancingstudio.

"I am not gonna help you." Ashley stopped walking, which caused Lea to do the same.

"If I get busted he will realize you stole his phone too the first time." Lea told Ashley and that left her no choice.

"Fine, I'll distract him." Ashley sighed and rolled her eyes.

"And don't pretend like you don't want to see those pictures." Lea pointed at Ashley.

"I never said that." Ashley pushed the door of the dancestudio open and peeked inside.

The Warbler guys were standing in a V-shape. Their heads turned towards the ground. Darren was standing in the middle. They had probably been practicing the choreography for 'Hey Soul Sister'. Chris had told her so much about that number.

"Okey guys!" Zach clapped his hands together, the sound echoed against the walls. The boys looked up at Zach. "I think you've got it down. You can go now." Zach told them.

The boys started to gather their things. Ashley walked in the room and kept hold of Chris before he could make it to his bag.

"Hi Ash, what are you doing here?" He said, but he wasn't looking at her. He was looking behind her where Darren exited the room. He winked and mouthed 'See you later.' at Chris before walking through the door. Darren almost bumped in to Lea on his way out.

Darren was the last one to leave the room, so Chris and Ashley were alone now. "I wanted to talk to you." She positioned him so his back was turned to the door.

"What is it?" He asked, but Ashley didn't answer. She too focused on Lea sneaking in the room and tiptoeing her way to Chris' bag behind Chris. "We can talk in my trailer, if you want. I'll just grab my stuff."

Chris almost turned around and Lea froze. "No!" Ashley screamed and quickly put her hands on his shoulders to stop him from turning any further. Chris shot her a questioning look. "No, ehm that's not necessary. Can we talk here?" She asked.

"Yeah, of course." They walked over to some chairs at the other side of the room. Ashley looked over her shoulder at Lea. Lea had taken her own phone out too. Ashley assumed to send the picture she had found to herself.

Ashley and Chris sat down. Ashley saw Lea give her the thumbs up and exit the room quietly. "Okey, what is wrong?" Chris asked Ashley once more.

"Ehm, I forgot." Ashley quickly stood up. Before Chris could protest she kissed his cheek and muttered a quick 'Bye'. She practically ran out of the room.

"Bye?" Chris yelled after her. With a focused expression on his face, he gathered his belongings and walked to his trailer for a quick shower.


	5. Chapter 5

"So?" Ashley asked after she had made sure they were alone.

"They are so cute, I wanna puke rainbows!" Lea squealed and looked at her phone again.

"Let me see." Ashley took the phone. There were two pictures of Chris and Darren smiling together. They looked so happy with each other. She smiled at the two pictures she saw. "Oh my god. They are so sweet."

"I know." Lea said and tried to look over Ashley's shoulder.

Ashley locked the touchscreen and tapped her fingers on the phone bitting het lip. "Lea this is wrong. We shouldn't be doing this." She handed the phone back to Lea. "I'm going to tell him." She said and turned to walk away.

Lea jumped in front of her. "No! No, Ashley please don't." She begged her friend. "We can't tell him now. He would get mad at us."

"He has every right to be mad at us, Lea! Stop thinking about yourself all the time! What we did was wrong!" Ashley trew her arms up. She wished that she had never started this in the first place. It was her idea after all, but now all she felt was guilt. Damn curiosity!

"We wouldn't even have stolen his phone if it wasn't for _your_ evil plan!" Lea yelled back at her.

"Don't blame everything on me! It was _you_ who convinced me to do it a second time! And if it wasn't for you, he would know by now! And yes, he would be mad at us, but he'll be even more mad if he finds out himself!" Ashley was angry by now. Lea should stop thinking about herself and start thinking about Chris.

Lea sighed. She didn't want to fight with her friend. "Okey, how about this? If he doesn't tell us in a month, we'll tell him that we know, okey?" Lea held her hand out.

Ashley thought about Lea's proposition for a moment. "Okey." She said and shook her hand. "Just delete those pictures." Ashley waved at the phone.

"But they-"

"Delete them!" Ashley interrupted her.

"Okey, fine." Lea said and deleted the pictures.

They kept their promise. They didn't tell anyone that they knew about the new couple. And they hadn't gone through anyone's stuff again.

Three weeks later, Chris still hadn't told them about Darren. They were having a cast's party at Mark's and everyone was invited. The house was fully packed with people and the music was blasting trough the stereo.

They somehow ended up playing 'Truth Or Dare'. Everyone was seated in a circle on the floor and people were getting more drunk by every question.

"Okey- ehm- Chord, truth or dare?" Heather half giggled.

"Dare." Chord answered.

"I dare you to" she thought for a moment before she spoke again "to spend the rest of the night shirtless." She said with a smug smile spread over her face.

"Okey, it's not like you guys haven't seen that, right?" He said while taking his shirt off. He received a few catcalls from the cast-members.

"Okey Darren, your turn." Lea said and reached for the bottle in the middle. "Truth or dare?" She asked.

"I'll go with truth." Darren answered her.

"For how long have you and Chris been dating exactly?" She asked him.

Darren's eyes went wide and everybody went silent. Darren immediately sobered up at that.

"W-what?" He stuttered. _How can she just pass this of as if it isn't a big deal? She practically outed me. How did she find out anyway?_

"You and Chris? How long has that been going on?" All the eyes of the group were focused on him. He didn't even trust himself to look for Chris'.

"I-I-I..." He didn't know what to say. He got up and ran to the bathroom. He locked the door behind him and sat down on the floor. He wrapped his arms around his knees and put his face in his knees.

"What the hell, Lea?" Chris screamed at the women after Darren ran away. "What was that supposed to mean? How do you even know about that?"

"We kind of stole your phone to find out who you were seeing." Ashley spoke up.

Chris' jaw dropped. "How could you do that?" Chris almost whispered in disbelieve. He couldn't believe two of his best friends would do something like that.

"Chris, I'm sorry- " Lea started, but Chris cut her off.

"Don't apologize to me. Yes, what you did was wrong. My phone is private and you should stay out of my private stuff. But have you got any idea what you just did? You just _outed_ Darren." He pointed at the bathroom door. "You don't understand how hard this is for him." Chris stood up as he spoke.

"Chris, we understand- "

"No Ashley, you don't! Has any of you ever had to come out?" He looked around the group, but everyone stayed silent and stared at him. "I thought so." He nodded. "You see, coming out is scary, but being outed? That's just awful."

Chris walked to the bathroom and tried to open the door. When he realized it was locked, he knocked. No response. He knocked again. "Darren, it's me. Please open up."

He heard Darren get up and the door open a bit. Darren's eyes were red rimmed and it broke Chris' heart. He had never seen Darren cry. He embraced Darren in a tight hug.

"Chris, I'm so sorry." Darren said against Chris' neck. He pulled away from the hug to look at Darren's face.

"What are you sorry for?" Chris asked and wiped a tear away from Darren's face. "I'm the one who should be sorry." Chris told him.

Darren gave him a questioning look. "You didn't do anything wrong. Chris, I'm so sorry. I freaked out. When Lea asked me that, I just didn't know what to say. I haven't figured anything out."

Chris just shook his head. "You don't have to apologize, dummy. You should have been able to do this on your own pace. I understand that you didn't want them to know. I get how hard this must be for you." Chris said and cupped Darren's cheek.

Darren smiled at him. "I want them to know. I don't know what you're thinking, but I'm not ashamed of you. I'm proud of you." He kissed Chris' lips sweetly.

Chris pulled away. "You are?" He asked him. Darren just nodded in response. "But Darren, they are not gonna get away with this so easily. Lea and Ashley are gonna pay for this." Chris told him.

"Oh, I like where this is going." Darren smiled and kissed Chris again.


	6. Chapter 6

**AN:**

**Hey everyone!  
><strong>

**Thank you so much for reading my story, but you should also read the Klaine story `Every Night`  
><strong>

**It is absolutely amazing! Go read it and fall in love with it.**

* * *

><p>Chris was completely caught up in reading his script when he walked around the corner. Reading and walking at the same time probably wasn't the best idea, but he needed to read trough a few scenes before his break was over. And he was meeting up with Darren in his trailer, so he just wanted to get it over with.<p>

"Chris." He heard a all too familiar women's voice say and his head snapped up. Lea and Ashley were standing right in front of him.

"I don't want to talk to you." He told them and turned around to leave.

The two women followed him. "Chris, we just want to apologize." Lea said. She caught up with him and tried to make eyecontact with him, but Chris avoided her eyes with ease.

"You're apologizing to the wrong person." Chris muttered and tried to walked around another corner, but Ashley stopped him by grabbing his arm and turning him to face them.

"Darren is avoiding us." She said, a serious expression on her face.

"And I'm trying to do the same, but you keep following me." Chris said and he move past her.

"Chris, just let us explain?" Lea asked him. Chris turned around angrily.

"After you've outed my boyfriend like that?" He screamed at them and put his script under his arm.

"Chris, please listen to us?" Ashley used her puppy-dog eyes. She knew Chris couldn't resist those. He had always had a weakness for Ashley and he do anything for those eyes.

Chris sighed and crossed his arms over his chest so the script was pressed to his chest. He didn't say anything, but he waited for them to speak.

"We just wanted to know your date's name. We really didn't think it could be someone we know. It got out of hand and we are_ really_ sorry." Ashley said. She visibly was sorry, but Chris decided that they hadn't suffered enough yet.

"We really care about you and we wanted to make sure that you're in good hands." Lea said and Ashley nodded in agreement.

Chris sighed. "I am a grown man. I can take care of myself and I don't need you to look after me. Did it ever accrue to you that I didn't want to tell you because Darren was not ready to come out?" He asked and narrowed his eyes at them.

"We didn't know it was him." Lea explained.

"We didn't think it was a straight guy." Ashley added. "Or supposed to be straight?"

"Yeah, what is he?" Lea asked in a small voice, not entirely sure if it was an appropriate question.

"I don't know." Chris told them. "And neither does he. He should have been able to figure that out before everyone found out."

"We didn't tell anyone." Ashley assured him in a sympathetic voice. "No one did." She regretted everything she had done so much. She knew these must be confusing times for Darren, maybe even for Chris. But she couldn't change the past. She could only hope for the future to turn out right.

"We all felt so awful after last night." Lea said. Lea and Ashley had left immediately after Chris and Darren had. They had tried to call them and they had texted them a dozen times.

Chris rolled his eyes at them. "You should." He muttered and left.

Chris entered his trailer and walked over to his boyfriends who was seated on the small couch. He was reading trough the script and sipping his coffee. When Darren heard Chris collapse on the couch next to him he looked up. "Hey." He placed a small kiss on Chris' lips. "What took you so long?" he asked when their lips parted.

"Ashley and Lea." Chris sighed.

"Oh?" Darren hadn't seen them all day. After what had happened last night, Chris and him had left the party and had ignored all their calls and texts. So he was curious what they wanted to say.

"They wanted to apologize." Chris said in a careless tone. That tone worried Darren.

Chris was a private person, so to say he was pissed, when he had found out that Ashley and Lea had stolen his phone, would be an understatement. Darren was pissed too, but not as pissed as Chris was. He had been thinking about coming out to his friends for a while, so it was not like he wasn't ready. But Chris thought Ashley and Lea should be punished anyway. So they had agreed on ignoring them until they had suffered enough.

"What did you say?" Darren asked, putting his script aside so he could fully focus on the conversation.

"I told them that they should feel awful." Chris simply said.

"Chris, don't be too hard on them. I was ready to come out. I was gonna do it anyway. I'm not mad at them." Darren said. Chris walked over to the fridge to grab a diet coke. He opened it and took a long gulp.

"But they didn't know that. What if you weren't ready?" Chris asked him.

He had a point, but that wasn't even the case. So what was the big deal? "But I was."

"We can be nice to them again when they apologize for the right thing." Chris said.

"Which is?" Darren asked. He had decided it was useless to argue with Chris. So he just went with it.

"Sticking their noses in our businessess and not giving us the time we needed." Chris answered him.

That sounded reasonable to Darren. "Okey, just make sure this revenge thing doesn't infect your friendship." He told Chris.

"It won't." Chris told him an leaned in for another sweet kiss.


	7. Chapter 7

"It's all set." Chord's voice came out of the phone.

Chris turned to Darren with an evil smirk on his face. "Really? Thanks, man." He said to Chord and hung up the phone. "Okay, showtime." He told Darren. Darren took his hand and they started walking in a random direction.

They had been avoiding Ashley and Lea for two days now. This was the first time since the outing that they _wanted_ to be seen by the two women. They had been walking around set for seven minutes when they heard Lea's voice. "Chris, Darren!"

Darren and Chris smiled briefly at each other, but put their annoyed faces on quickly. They started walking faster, but not fast enough for Lea and Ashley to not keep up.

"Guys, don't be so childish. Let's talk about this like the adults we are." Ashley suggested.

The two men completely ignored her and continued getting to their destination.

"Come on, don't you think we've been punished enough. You haven't talked to us in days." Lea begged. "You haven't even looked at us."

The four had reached their destination, which was an open space on the parking lot. Chris and Darren slowed down and turned around.

"Please." Ashley decided to try one more time. "We are so, so sorry for breaking into your personal space and making it public. We should have let that up to you guys."

Chris and Darren eyed each other and smiled at the two confused women in front of them. "Ah, they finally get it." Darren said in a mockingly sweet voice.

"I almost feel bad for what will happen next." Chris said in the same voice as Darren's. Ashley and Lea had no idea what they were talking about, but they didn't trust the creepy smiles those two were having on their faces.

"But I don't." Darren simply said. "HIT IT!" He screamed and he pulled Chris with him behind a car.

"What the-" Lea was silenced when something hit her face. It was a waterballoon. In a matter of seconds they were covered in eggs, water, flower, paint and slushies. "Oh my god!" They both yelled.

"Ha!" Chris snapped at them. All the Glee guys came in sight from behind the cars. They were all laughing loudly.

"I guess we deserved that." Ashley said and tried to wipe off her face, but her hands were dirty too, so she just smeared all the stuff on her face out.

"You did." Chris said and Darren wrapped his arm around his boyfriend' waist. They smiled at the sight in front of them. They silently agreed that the two actresses had suffered enough by now.

"Now come here. Give me a hug!" Lea smiled and opened her arms. She ran after Chris and Ashley chased Darren.

"No!" Chris screamed, hiding behind cars to avoid his friend.

Darren was not fast enough. Ashley had pulled him in a bone-crushing hug. "Ashley, let me go!" He managed to get out between laughs. "No-oh!" He screamed when Ashley tackled him and went to lay on top of him.

"Ashley, get off him!" Chris commanded her. And came out from behind the car where he had been hiding from Lea. "That's my job." He whispered in Darren's ear while helping him up.

* * *

><p><em>Why do I like my work again? <em>Chris thought when he opened yet _another_ script. He needed to do so much more tonight. He had to learn his lines for the scenes tomorrow and he was behind on his writing schedule for his book. "Hey." Chris heard behind him.

"Hi," Chris said, turned around in his desk chair and kissed Darren on his lips when he came over to the desk. "how did you get in?" He asked. Chris had noticed how he immediately started smiling at the sight of Darren.

Darren leaned at the desk next to Chris. "You need to find a better hiding place for your spare key." He smiled and put the key on Chris' desk. "Are you up for some coffee?" He hopped off the desk.

"I can't." Chris sighed. "I've gotta learn these." He pointed at the two scripts that were resting on the table in front of him.

"Come on," Darren took Chris' hands in his. "you work to much." He told him and tapped Chris' nose with his index finger.

"And you think coffee is gonna help?" Chris raised his eyebrows at Darren and took off his glasses.

"You've been working all day." Darren whined. "And keep those on. You look cute with your glasses." He handed Chris his glasses again. Chris put them on and turned to his script again.

"I've got a lot to do. Ryan will kill me if I don't know these by tomorrow." Chris sighed. He wanted to go and have coffee with Darren, he really did. But his work was putting a lot of pressure on him.

"Just one cup of coffee?" Darren pouted his lip and gave Chris his best puppy eyes.

Chris almost melted at the sight of those honey eyes, but he quickly shook his head. "No." Chris said.

"I know your weakness." Darren smiled and picked up his guitar in the corner of the room. He had a guitar at all the places where he spent a lot of time. And Chris' apartment wasn't a exception.

Darren started to play the intro of a song that Chris recognized immediately. It was the song they had danced to for the first time. "That's not fair." He muttered and turned his attention back to his script again. "I am just going to ignore you." He told Darren.

_'You're a falling star_

_You're the getaway car_

_You're the line in the sand_

_When I go to far_

_You're the swimmingpool _

_On an august day_

And you're the perfect thing to say'

Darren sang. Chris rolled his eyes a Darren was trying to make Chris look at him. Chris kept his face straight and stayed focused on his work.

_'And you play it coy_

_But it's kinda cute_

_Oh, when you smile at me_

_You know exactly what you do_

_Baby don't pretend _

_That you don't know it's true_

_Cause you can see it when I look at you'_

Darren could see Chris was having a hard time concentrating. He was trying to fight back a smile and he kept reading the same words over and over again. Darren loved how he could have that effect on him by just singing a simple song.

_'And in this crazy life_

_And trough these crazy times_

_It's you_

_It's you_

_You make me sing_

_You're every line_

_You're every word _

_You're everything'_

Chris finally gave up trying to pretend that he was working. He was smiling up at Darren who was sitting on the desk, his feet on either side of Chris' legs on the chair.

_'And I can't believe_

_That I'm your man_

_And I get to kiss you baby _

_Just because I can_

_Whatever comes our way_

_We will see it trough_

_And you know that's what our love can do'_

Darren finished with a small peck on Chris' lips. "Okay, I'm finished." Chris said and picked up the script out of his lap. He closed it and put it on the desk.

"Really?" Darren asked, putting the guitar against the desk.

"No, but lets go before I change my mind." Chris got up and grabbed Darren's hand, leading him to the front door. The second they walked trough the door, Chris let go off Darren's hand.

They walked side by side to the nearest coffee shop, their hands almost touching. "You know Ryan is gonna kill me, right?" Chris said out of the blue.

Darren stopped and so did Chris. "Okay, how about this? We have coffee together, after that I'll run lines with you until you know them all by heart. Which isn't gonna take that long, because you're good at these things."

"I'd like that." Chris said. He almost tried to kiss Darren, but he remembered that they were in public, just in time. He awkwardly turned around to continue their walk.

Darren paid for their coffee. They sat down at a table in the corner of the small, cozy place. "That coffee guy is totally flirting with you." Darren said and put his cup on the wooden table.

"No, he is not." Chris looked over his shoulder at the guy who had just handed them their coffee. The guy looked down and started cleaning the counter when he saw Chris looking at him. He had light brown hair and his face was slightly freckled.

"He totally is," Darren said. "he can't keep his eyes off you." Darren gestured his hand at the guy.

"Can you blame him, though?" Chris asked, winking seductively at Darren. He saw Darren's lips part lightly at that.

Darren narrowed his eyes at the table. He saw something scribbled on Chris' coffee cup that was too long to be his name. "What's that?" Darren nodded towards the cup.

"My name?" Chris replied without even looking at it.

Darren grabbed the paper cup to find a phone number scribbled on it. "It's his number." He pointed at the cup. "Totally not flirting, huh?" Darren teased and handed Chris his coffee back.

"We are not public, Darren." Chris reminded his boyfriend.

"I know, I know, 'just friends'." Darren rolled his eyes and sighed when phone number-guy was undressing Chris with his eyes again.

"Just FYI, I'm so not gonna call him." Chris said and Darren sighed in relief. He knew Chris wouldn't do that, but hearing the words leave his mother felt good. "I don't like poor and tall." He joked.

Darren pretend to be offended. "Oh, so you're only dating me for my money and my heights. Or, you know, the lack of the later."

Chris seemed to think he was serious. "I was only kidding." He explained to Darren quickly.

"I know." Darren chuckled. He thought Chris looked adorable when he was worried for no reason.

Four hours later Darren closed the last script and let out a sigh. "Okay, you might be a little less good at this than I thought." Darren spoke and stretched out his arms. He got up and walked over to Chris who was sitting on the bed. "Well, I think I'm gonna go home, it's pretty late." Darren kissed Chris goodbye.

"Do you wanna stay over?" Chris asked against Darren's lips.

"Yeah, that would be great, I'm really tiered." Darren smiled and rubbed his eyes. "So I'll take the couch?" He pointed his thumbs in the direction of the living room.

"Don't be silly," Chris smiled and pulled Darren in to sit next to him on the bed. "my bed is way more comfortable." He said.

Darren raised his eyebrows. _Is he suggesting we sleep in the same bed tonight._ "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, you can burrow some of my clothes if you want." Darren nodded. Chris got up and grabbed two pairs of sweats and two pain t-shirts. He threw the gray sweats and the purple t-shirt at Darren's head. "No funny businesses, though." Chris pointed a warning finger at his boyfriend.

"No, of course not." Darren said. They both eyed the bathroom door at the same time. Their eyes locked for a moment and, as if reading each other's mind, they started a race to the bathroom.


	8. Chapter 8

"Hey curly," Ashley greeted Darren "we need to talk." She said.

Darren didn't have a lot of scenes to film, but they were spread out all day. He had hours of spare time between shooting the few scenes he was in. So he spend his time jamming his guitar on the unused football field, soaking up the sun. "Ashley, I've already told you, I forgive you. We're cool." He said, not stopping the strumming on his guitar.

"Not about that." Was her response. She was still ashamed of what she'd done, but Darren and Chris really seemed to be okay with it if it didn't leave the group of people who already knew.

He put his guitar down and sat up straight. "Okay, what's wrong?"

"I need to have a little talk with you about my boy." She said. Her tone was serious.

That tone scared the shit Darren. Ashley scared the shit out of him. "Okay?" He questioned and raised an eyebrow.

She smiled and started "You're screwing my boy and-"

"God, Ash! I am not screwing him," Darren blushed. "but we are dating, yes." Darren gestured with his hand to tell her she could continue.

"Right, dating." She snorted and rolled her eyes.

"Yes dating." Was Darren's response.

Her expression turned into a smirk. "I saw you guys arrive in the same car this morning." Darren was about to make something up about carpooling, but Ashley beat him. "You live in opposite direction." _Shit, she knows me too well._ "And you're wearing his shirt. Don't worry, it was about time he lost his V-card. He was very protective of it."

Darren was a horrible liar, so he decided the truth was the only way out. "I'll admit, I spend the night." Ashley brought her hand up for a high-five. "But nothing happened." Darren continued. "We slept in his bed, cuddled and shared a few kisses. It was sweet and innocent. He's still got his V-card."_ Just change the subject, you idiot!_ "But you said you wanted to talk about something."

"Oh, right." Ashley remembered the reason why she came over. "The thing is, Chris has been treated like absolute shit in the past."

"I know that." Darren interrupted her. "He told me his ex-boyfriends cheated on him."

"Okay," Ashley said. She was taken aback. Chris never told anyone about that. She was the only one who knew, he hadn't even told his parents because he didn't want to worry them. "well here is the deal. I don't care what you do to him. But if you cheat on him, I will make your life to a living hell." Darren swallowed thickly. He knew Ashley was absolutely serious. But then again, he would never cheat on Chris. "He deserves a relationship that doesn't end in him being cheated on. Do you understand?"

Darren nodded. "Yes." He told her confidently.

"I'm serious." She warned.

"I know." He reassured her.

"Good."

Out of the blue, there was a pair of lips attached to Darren's neck. A quick, dry kiss was placed there by Chris who had made his way up to the pair on the field without them noticing. "What are you guys talking about?" Chris asked and sat down next to his boyfriend.

"Just stuff." Ashley answered vaguely before Darren could manage to get anything out.

"Oh interesting." Chris replied sarcastically.

"Not really." Darren said, still watching Ashley who was still watching him like checking if he didn't do anything wrong. He didn't see Chris gave Ashley a quick swing with his head to tell her to leave them alone.

"I'll leave you guys alone." Ashley said and left. Darren didn't get why she left all of a sudden, but Chris was talking.

"We need to talk." Chris said in all seriousness.

"Oh serious." Darren smiled, but Chris' expression stayed serious.

Chris decided to be blunt. "I want to discuss where were going with this." He said, waving his hand between the two of them. He seemed upset to Darren.

"What?" _Is he breaking up with me? After I came out to the cast?_

Chris saw the flash of concern in Darren face. He quickly took Darren's hands. "That didn't come out right. It sounded like I was breaking up with you. And I'm not doing that at all." That was a relies for Darren. "What I mean is, you said you're ready to come out. I wanted to know on what scale."

"Oh okay." Darren let out a small laugh out of relieve. He thought about Chris' question for a moment before he answered. "I don't want to come out to the world, yet." Darren stated.

"No, me neither." Chris interrupted.

"Right, okay." Darren nodded. "I was thinking only our close friends for now. Maybe our families?"

"Why wouldn't you tell your family, you're ridiculously close to them." Chris was surprised Darren didn't want to tell his parents. Chris knew Darren told his parents everything. If something important happened to Darren, his parents were the first to know.

"I know." There were so many emotions in Darren's eyes: struggle, uncertainty and even a tiny bit of guilt.

Chris sighed and wrapped his arms around his boyfriend. He pressed his lips against Darren's temple. "Then why not tell them?" He whispered, lips still brushing the soft skin.

"They are so close to me, what if they are not supportive?" Darren turned his head abruptly towards Chris. Chris could see his eyes were filled with unused tears.

"They will be." Chris promised.

Darren held Chris close again to hide his rolling tears. Chris pretended not to notice, but he did. "It's just, they're my life and if I tell them, this all becomes so real."

Chris knew exactly what he meant. Darren was in the constant dilemma of hiding himself and taking the risk of being different, being himself. He'd gone trough that for two years himself. He knew what it was like. You want to get it over with, but on the other hand you're terrified.

"It'll be okay." Chris tried to comfort him. "I've met your parents, they are the most accepting people on this planet." Chris placed a single, tender kiss on the back of the older man's neck.

"I know, but it's different when it's their own child."

Chris shook his head. He took Darren's face in both his hands and forced him to look at him. "They won't care." He pointed out.

"What if they will?" Darren questioned angrily. "What if they won't accept me like this? I can't live without them! I simply can't." With the last words he started sobbing uncontrollably onto Chris' shoulder.

"I know. And you won't have to, because your family loves you. No matter what. It's going to be absolutely fine." Chris whispered. He tried to calm Darren down, but he kept sobbing.

"Chris, please understand? I can't do this yet. I know I should be strong and it shouldn't be any different from telling them I have a girlfriend. But it is. I don't want it to be. It just is. I've been holding my head up high after the whole being outed thing, but I'm so scared. Scared of what people think, of what they will do and say." Darren gripped Chris tighter, like he needed to know he was real. Like he needed something to hold onto. Like he needed Chris to hold him together.

"Shh, shh." He hushed Darren. "Okay, I'm not telling you what to do, but my advise is you should tell them. You'll have to tell them sooner or later. I can't tell you what they are going to say, but they raised you. You're so special. They taught you it doesn't matter who you're attracted to. Do you really think those people won't accept you?"

Chris dried Darren's tears and waited for a response. "I'll think about it." He said, not promising anything. "I want to be absolutely ready when I tell them."

"Good, the choice is all yours. No pressure." Chris kissed the tip of Darren's nose and rested their foreheads together.

"When you say no pressure, it doesn't take any of the pressure away." Darren laughed bitterly. He wished it took the pressure away. He was under so much pressure.

"What about this?" Whispered Chris before pressing their lips together in a chaste kiss. That made a sincere smile appear on Darren's lips again.


	9. Chapter 9

It had become usual for the two to share a bed. They noticed they slept better when they had someone to hold onto and they liked waking up to each other. They had both put a duffel bag of clothes and a toothbrush in the other's apartment.

Whenever they shared a bed, they wouldn't spoon. They didn't like that the little spoon couldn't see the big spoon. They'd much rather lay in spooning position, but facing each other, their legs and arms intertwined.

Of course hands only touched above the waist. Darren would let his hands wander southward, only to test for new developments, every now and again when they were making out. But Chris always moved the hands to their original place on his back.

After one rather exhausting day of filming and rehearsing, Chris couldn't bring up the energy to drive Darren home.

"Urgh, I'm exhausted." Chris moaned when he let himself fall faceforward on his bed.

"Come on, Sweetie, get up and get changed." Darren tried to flip his boyfriend over, but Chris stayed on his stomach.

"Don't want to." Chris whined, his voice was muffled because he was talking into the soft, fluffy comforter. Darren giggled and tried one last time to get Chris off the bed. When he failed he walked over to Chris' dresser and grabbed some night clothes for the brunette on the bed. He threw the clothes on Chris' head.

"Here, clothes." Said Darren. Chris looked up annoyed when the clothes hit the back of his head. "You just have to put them on." Chris let out a growl and motioned for Darren to leave the room.

Darren grabbed his own clothes and changed in the bathroom. When he entered Chris' bedroom again Chris was already curled up in bed. Darren smiled at the adorable sight when Chris slowly opened his eyes and smiled. Darren got under the covers and cuddled up in Chris' arms.

"Night." Chris kissed Darren goodnight, but didn't close his eyes.

He couldn't believe what he must have done to deserve Darren in his life. Darren was everything he had ever wished for in a boyfriend. He could be a hundred percent himself around Darren and he would still have him. Darren didn't care that, sometimes, he'd run low on self-esteem, or he was sort of a slob one day and a neat-freak the next. Darren understood why work was the most important thing in Chris' life. It gave him a sense of pride, challenge, control. Darren respected that.

"Good night." Darren kissed Chris' forehead.

_Darren is my perfect match._

Chris took Darren's hand that was resting on his waist and slowly moved it downwards so it was on his lower hip. Darren opened his eyes and much to Chris' surprise he moved the hand back to his waist. "What? Is something wrong? Don't you want to touch me like that?" Chris jerked away completely, thinking he over stepped some boundary.

Darren quickly sat up next to Chris. "No! No, of course I want to touch you like that." He blushed and put a hand awkwardly on Chris' shoulder. "But you can't expect me to touch your gorgeous ass and to behave myself at the same time." He whispered as if it was a secret.

"What if I told you that you don't have to behave yourself?" Chris hesitantly looked up to see Darren's reaction. He saw Darren's mouth in a O-shape and his eyes wide.

"Wait, really?" Darren questioned. He didn't really get where this was coming from. Sure, he and Chris were going strong for three months, but he wasn't expecting Chris to take this big step any time soon.

"Yeah." Chris nodded. "I mean, not right now, but soon we'll have a few days off. Maybe that's the right time." Darren still hadn't given him a clear answer and he wasn't sure if he was doing something wrong in the conversation.

"Are you sure?" Darren asked. "Please don't do this for me. 'Cause I'm fine with taking care of myself for a little longer."

"Yes I'm sure." Was Chris' confident answer. I want to show you how special you are to me and how much I trust you." Darren was about to protest because that wasn't a good enough reason to make that decision. "But for me as well. I want to do this."

"Okay." Said Darren. There was a long silence in which they lay down again. They stared in each other's eyes before Darren began laughing. "How am I supposed to sleep right now?" Chris let out a chuckled and muffled Darren's laughter in a kiss. He took Darren's hand again and placed it on his hip again with a devilish smirk on his face. "That's not helping."

"Hey, you gave me mental images of you getting yourself off." Chris laughed and playfully slapped Darren's arm.


	10. Chapter 10

The Glee girls invited Chris to have a girls' night at Lea's and Dianna's apartment. Chris was going to say no, because he wanted to spend his free time with Darren, but he knew they were right when they said he was spending_ all _of his time with Darren. He had skipped sleepovers a lot lately. It was nice, catching up with the girls and having girltalk every once in a while.

"So Chris," Jenna started while focusing on polishing her toenails bright blue._ Thank god I don't have to do those things. Facials, nail polish, make-up, it sounds exhausting._ "how are things going with you and Darren?"

"Oh," _So that's what it's going to be like. Catching up on my love life. _"we're fine." That didn't sound right. "We're really good."

Chris received smirks from all the girls across the room. "How good?" Amber asked. She smelled gossip.

"Has he finally taken your precious virginity?" Leave it to Ashley to be that straightforward.

"I can't answer that." Chris squeaked. The girls were always open about absolutely _everything_. Chris had learned one of the typical things about girls around each other; they share details.

"Chris, we have a total lack of social life and you and Darren are the only good gossip material we've got." Leave it to Lea to be a drama queen. "Please talk to us?" She shoved some more cheesecake on Chris' plate. Food combined with _those_ eyes certainly did the trick for him.

"Okay," He gave in and received a bunch of squeals in return. "we're talking about it." Chris was pretty sure the squeals that erupted after that did some serious damage to his hearing. "You know, I really think I'm in love with him and I'm quite confident about taking that step with him."

Before Chris knew it he was in a giant group-hug. He heard several girls say things like 'that's so amazing', 'this is too cute' and 'good for you'. Chris noticed Heather wasn't participating in the hug. When he came to think about it, she was the only one who hadn't congratulated the couple on their new relationship, and she was the only one who hadn't tried to show her sympathy towards them when Ashley and Lea outed them at the party.

Chris didn't notice when everyone went to sit down again. "Can I give you some advice?" Chris looked up up from his cheesecake. "Don't lose your virginity to Darren." Heather said. She looked deadly serious.

"What?" Chris didn't understand. The girls however seemed to be aware why Heather just said that ridiculous thing.

"There are way better options to lose it to than to him." Heather continued. Chris looked around him at his friends, his mouth hanging slightly open. None of the girls were making eye contact with him.

"Excuse me?" He said offended. He was completely taken aback by Heather. He didn't see why she was saying things like that and he had no idea what made her think she had the right to give her opinion like that. It was none of her business.

"Sex with him is horrible." _What made her think she can just assume something like that?_ "He'll sweat on you the entire time. It's so gross, like fucking a giant sponge. Downright sloppy." _She can't be serious! _The others in the room didn't know what to say either.

"What would you know about sleeping with Darren?" Chris decided to talk back instead of just aimlessly staring around the room.

"I experienced it." She told him.

Chris' world stopped for a moment. _She what?_ "What?" He asked breathlessly, like her comment had beaten the air out of him. Judging by the reactions in the room he was the only one who didn't know about it already. His friend had slept with his boyfriend and no one had told him? Darren hadn't told him.

Heather was going to make it extra clear for one more time. "I slept with him and I'm telling you, you never want to have sex again if that is your first time."

"Heather, just stop." Someone finally said. Chris didn't know who it was and he didn't care. He just didn't want to be there anymore. His evening was ruined and he just wanted to get out of there. He didn't know why Heather felt the urge to say irrational things about Darren, but he just didn't want to hear it anymore.

Chris got up, he didn't bother to gather his stuff, he would pick it up later. "Thanks for inviting me over. Too bad some of us had to ruin everything." He shot Heather a mean glare. Dianna walked him out.

When Chris was about to leave Dianna stopped him. "I'm so sorry, Chris. I don't know what got into her." Dianna apologized for her friend's inappropriate behaviour.

"It's not your fault. She just ruined the mood." Chris was pretending it didn't bother him, but Dianna saw right trough his brave face.

"We'll talk to her." She promised and kissed his cheek goodbye. She closed the door behind Chris and she stormed to the living room again. "Heather what is your problem?" Dianna asked angrily. "Don't you see how happy Chris is? Don't you see he is finally getting serious with someone?"

"It's just weird, okay?" Heather said in a small voice. She was rubbing her arms to sooth herself, because she knew she'd get all the girls over her for the things she said. The girls didn't seem to get her answer. "It's just strange for me to see a guy that I slept with is now dating another guy." She explained.

"Is that what this is about? Really?" Asked Naya who was sitting next to Heather. She couldn't believe what she was hearing from her best friend. She never expected Heather to choose something stupid like this over Chris' happiness.

"Heather, you two never dated!" Lea cut in. "You had a fling, something physical. What you and Darren had is nothing compared to what he and Chris have." She tried to talk reason into the blonde, but she didn't seem to get trough.

"Where is this coming from?" Amber asked. "Do you have feelings for him?"

"No," Heather answered. They knew each other for quite some time, so they were able to tell when someone was lying. And Heather wasn't lying. "but he was attracted to me and now he's attracted to Chris."

"You're being stupid. He just told you he is in love with Darren and you pull this crap on him because you want to be the only one in this group who has slept with Darren. He is your friend and this is not what friends do. Chris was about to take a big step in his relationship and for all we know you might have ruined it by being an absolute bitch." Heather was offended by Dianna's words at first, but then she realised she was right. What if Chris got mad at Darren because of this?

"You just admitted you don't have feelings for Darren. And guess what, Chris does." Ashley informed Heather. "You have no reason to say stuff about how Darren is in bed and we don't want to hear about it either."


	11. Chapter 11

"Did you sleep with Heather?" Chris asked when Darren opened his front door.

"What?" Darren asked and sleepily rubbed his eyes. "Where did that come from?" He asked as Chris pushed past him. He closed the door behind him and followed Chris to the living room.

"Did you?" Chris demanded.

"I-I did." Darren admitted. "One time and it didn't mean anything. We were drunk and that is no excuse. And I'm sorry." Darren rambled.

His words weren't comforting for Chris. When Darren said that it didn't mean anything, it hurt. It meant everything to Chris, the thought that it was just a little fun for Darren made him feel childish. Like he was a little boy in the grown-up world, watching the adults drive actual cars when he was playing with his toy cars. He didn't want it to be a big deal, but it was. It wasn't a big deal for any of his friends, but it was for him.

"Why would you be?" Chris questioned. "Just because I'm a baby pinguin, doesn't mean you should be too. I know you've slept with people, I just wished you had told me. Because I thought Heather was my friend." He was talking casually, but Darren could tell it was all fake by his body language. Darren was worried, Chris was never using his fake emotions around him he didn't need to, Darren wanted him to feel safe around him, like he could be himself without any judgement.

"I wanted to tell you." Darren told him truthfully. "But I was ashamed. I'm not the kind of guy who has random hook-ups, I hope you know that." Darren was really ashamed of himself for doing it and for hiding it from Chris. He knew he should have told Chris, he didn't know how he had found out, but it should have been via him."And I was afraid what you would say."

"You know, it's okay." Chris told Darren and shrugged his shoulders. He pretended it didn't get to him.

"It's not." Darren protested. "I hurt you. I can see the walls you're building as we speak. I know it doesn't change anything, but I truly am sorry." Darren apologized sincerely. Chris believed him, but he didn't think Darren had anything done wrong. Sure, he was upset about Heather sleeping with his boyfriend, but being cheated on a lot made him more thick skinned. But Darren hadn't cheated on him and he would never do that.

"I love you." Chris said out of nowhere.

"I love you too." Darren answered before he could second guess himself. "So," He trailed his fingers down Chris' arms. "are we alright?"

"Yes, we're alright." Chris responded with a flirty roll of his eyes. "I believe we've just dropped the L-bomb."

"I believe we did," Darren smiled, he had never meant it more. "so we we don't have to call it the L-bomb anymore." He placed a loving kiss on Chris' lips.

Chris tore his lips away from Darren's and he started kissing down Darren's neck. "God Chris, what are you doing?" Chris continued to nibble at the base of Darren's neck without answering Darren. "Chris, are you sure? Remember our conversation? Don't do this for me." Darren tried to keep his voice steady, but that wasn't easy when Chris was doing _those_ things to his skin.

"I've already told you, I want this." Chris whispered. He walked Darren to the couch and eased him down against the arm rest. He climbed on top of him. Chris had a weird feeling in his stomach, but he blamed it on the nerves. "Have you ever done this before? I might need some guidance."

Darren shook his head. "I've never done this before, but I've done some research." Darren informed. He had done _some_ stuff with guys, but far from everything.

"Yeah, me too." Chris said. He looked at Darren and then around the room. _Should we go to the bedroom? Or stay here?_ He decided to ask Darren, he knew the protocol after all. "So, how do we do this?"

"How about we start here and take this to the bedroom later?" Darren proposed.

"Sounds good." Chris smiled and leaned down to kiss Darren again. It was just like they always did for a few minutes.

Darren took the next step by sliding his hands up Chris' back a bit and moving his t-shirt up a little. "Is this okay?" Darren asked, afraid to do something wrong, or too fast.

Chris just chuckled and moved his own hand to roam over Darren's stomach, under his shirt. "Yeah, totally." He answered as he brushed his fingertips through the dust of hair there.

Darren closed his eyes and let himself melt into the touch. All of a sudden the hands were gone the weight on his chest was gone a second later. Darren opened his eyes and caught a glimpse of Chris running down the corridor, his mouth covered by both his hands. "Chris?" Darren called. "Where are you going?" He asked and saw the light in the bathroom was on when he walked the corridor himself. He knocked on the door, but Chris didn't say anything. "I'm sorry." Darren apologized through the door. He didn't know what he was apologizing for, but he clearly had done something wrong. He heard a whimper from Chris. "If you don't want to do this, you could have said so. Can I come in?" He knocked again. "I won't do anything." He promised. When he didn't get any response from Chris he decided to just check on him. He hesitantly opened the door and saw Chris hanging over the toilet. _Is he vomiting? _Darren's internal question was answered by Chris emptying his stomach again.

"Go away." Chris said, his voice raw and raspy. He didn't want Darren to see him like that. The night was about him seeing Chris in another light, but Chris didn't want it to be that light.

"What's going on?" Darren said concerned. He walked to where Chris was on his knees on the floor.

"Don't know." Was Chris' quick answer. "Just go."

"No." Darren said and knelt next to him. He wasn't going to just leave Chris when he was sick. He kept a comforting hand on Chris' back and tried not to look at what was coming out of his boyfriend. After a while, Chris' stomach was emptied out and Darren poured him in a glass of water. Chris downed it in a few big gulps. "Better?" Darren asked when the glass was handed back to him.

"I'm sorry, I ruined our special night." Chris said, sounding guilty.

"It's fine." Darren laughed, because only Chris could apologize for something like that when he was ill. "Are you feeling sick?" He asked when he saw how quickly Chris was on his feet again.

"Surprisingly, no." He helped Darren up and reached for his toothbrush. "It must have been food poisoning. We made sushi, that must have been it." Chris explained and he made a mental note to check on the girls later. But he ended up forgetting about it when he was snuggled close to Darren in bed.


	12. Chapter 12

"I can't believe I'm wearing a fucking kilt in public!" Chris hissed when he had called Darren over to the changing room to show him what the costume department had in mind for him for prom.

"I can't believe it either." Darren said and spun him around, the kilt swung in a wide circle around. Chris gave him a disapproving look when Darren stopped spinning him. "They always put you in those ridiculously tight pants and right now they choose something loose like this. Prom is all about the heated after party in the backseat." He said the last sentence in a low voice with a wiggle of his eyebrows.

Chris just snorted. "I'm more concerned about the fact that I'm wearing a skirt and it's uncomfortable, ridiculous and really stereotypical." He pointed out and looked down at the kilt with disgusted eyes. How was he supposed to act like he was proud of the thing later?

"A skirt isn't uncomfortable." Laughed Darren. Chris was about to say something about how he couldn't know about that, but Darren beat him. "I happen to find wearing skirts quite" Darren paused to search for the right word. "freeing." He finished.

Darren in a skirt? That must be the weirdest thing on earth. How did Darren end up in a skirt? Chris didn't know if he wanted to find out. "Do I want to know why you've experienced that?"

"What?" Darren asked. "Are you going to judge me for wearing a dress?"

_A dress? Oh God!_ "Yes, that's exactly what I'm doing." Chris laughed, because he couldn't stop imagining Darren in the pink Umbridge dress. Then he spotted Darren's suit that hung over his arm. It was a simple black suit and a white shirt. It reminded Chris once again how ridiculous he looked himself. "Can we switch suits?" He whined and made grabbing hands towards the classy suit on Darren's arm.

"Nah, I can't pull off a kilt." Chris looked disappointed, as if he actually believed they could just switch suits and get away with it. "Sweetie, you look gorgeous. Don't worry, the kilt looks hot on you." Darren winked and left the changing room to go change for himself.

A few hours later Chris and Darren found themselves in the back of the crowd when they were filming 'Friday'. They weren't needed on camera for a while, so they sat down and watched the boys on stage do their ridiculous dance moves. "So," Chris started when they sat down. "first time with a guy at prom, exiting?"

"This is not the first time." Darren said absently sipping his water, eyes still fixed on the men on stage.

"No, I mean with a guy as your date." Chris clarified, thinking Darren didn't understand the question.

"Yeah, it's not the first time." Darren simply answered again. This time he looked at Chris, confusion showing on his face.

"What?"

"Come with me." Darren stood up, not wanting to have that conversation with all those extras in front of them. When they reached a private spot where no one could see or hear them Darren stopped them. "I ehm," Pause "I used to have a boyfriend in high school and he was my date to junior prom." Darren confessed.

"Are you serious? You had a boyfriend?" Chris tried to suppress a giggle, because why didn't he see that coming?

"Yes," Darren nodded. "His name was Mason. He was my first boyfriend. And the last one before you." Darren explained.

"And that wasn't a wake-up call to question your sexuality?" Chris asked. He couldn't believe Darren had had a boyfriend and it didn't accrue to him that, maybe, he might like boys too.

"No, I questioned it. I mean, I looked at girls in that way and I looked at Alexander in that way. I came out as bisexual, but I found out I didn't look at any other guys that way after we broke up." Darren told him and Chris was both happy and disappointed that Darren had fallen in love with a guy before. He was disappointed because he felt kind of honored that Darren had chosen him to experience a gay relationship with. But he was happy about it because it was less likely to be an experiment to Darren, their relationship was more secure, unless it ended with Mason because Darren liked girls. What if that happened again?

"And you broke up because you started realising that?" Chris asked and he was quietly begging for a 'no'.

"No." _Yes!_ Chris cheered in his mind. "Just like in any other breakup, we grew apart. He was attached to his status and football and I was attached to my music and my comic books. The way he saw it, those didn't blend in well with his image." Darren sighed, visibly sad because of the memory. "I thought for about a year I as bi, but then I realised I didn't feel things towards any other guys."

When Chris noticed Darren's expression he realised Darren had been head over heals for that Mason. "I can't believe this." He spoke in wonder. "You had an actual boyfriend and an actual breakup and you were actually heart broken."

"Of course I was heartbroken." Darren said as if Chris had said he did something horrible. "I was in love with him and he broke up with me for a stupid reason." He remembered how hurt he was by Mason back then. He thought they'd get married and grow old together.

"That's so sweet." Chris grabbed Darren's hand and stroke the back of it with his thumb. Then his facial expression changed. "And quite gay." He smiled. "How did you not see that?"

"I thought he was an exception." Darren explained, smiling. "Apparently not the only exception." He winked at Chris.

"You make me feel so special," Chris replied like he was completely wooed. "and Mason too." He added with a tiny bit of teasing.

"Hey, he was absolutely hot!" Darren said offended. "He was the quarterback, you should see pictures he was total eye candy." They started laughing together. Then Darren's laughter died down and his expression changed to serious. "That's why telling my parents about us is hard for me." He confessed shyly.

"Because you already did it once?" Chris questioned. That didn't make any sense for him. He had done it once before and his parents were supportive, that should be a comforting thought, right? "I don't get it. Shouldn't that make it easier?"

"No, it makes it harder. I was out and proud and I went back in the closet. Now I have to come out again." Darren let out a small growl. "I don't want them to think I'm weak. I don't want them to think I'm bi, but get back in the closet the second I break up with my boyfriend. Like I want the best of both worlds."

"I get that, but not telling them is not gonna help." Chris squeezed Darren's hand. "The longer you wait the bigger the secret gets." He felt so annoying for going on and on about it, but he only wants to help. "Believe me, I've been there."

"Don't you think I know that?" Darren pulled his hand away from under Chris'. "I know I should tell them, but I'm just not ready." He felt like it was a lame excuse, but it was true.

"But you told me you were ready months ago."

"Well, I changed my mind!"

Chris took a breath and held it for a moment before breathing out again. He wasn't going to argue with Darren about it again. "It's alright." He gave in.

"Really?"

"No," Chris sighed, because it was really pissing him off that Darren refused to tell anyone. He knew his friends an family would be happy for him, but Darren was still hiding their relationship. "but I love you. If you want to wait than I'll have to wait."

"I love you too." Darren said it back. "So much."


	13. Chapter 13

Darren's phone buzzed with a new message. He instantly smiled when he saw the the name on the screen.

**From My Beloved Chris:**

_Hi Sweetie, can I come over?_

Darren looked to Joey who was sitting on the couch. He bit his lip in consideration of saying 'yes' to Chris, but he decided against it.

**To My Beloved Chris:**

_I'm sorry Honey, Joey is here._

"Do you want another drink?" Darren asked Joey after hitting the 'send' button. He put the phone on the coffee table and looked up at his friend. Joey answered that he would like a beer and Darren went to the kitchen to grab two for them.

While Darren was in the kitchen his phone buzzed again. Joey decided to ignore it. After a short moment it buzzed again and Joey eyed the object with a bit more curiosity. Then it buzzed for the third time and Joey picked up the phone and unlocked the screen. There was nothing Darren was hiding from him, right?

**From My Beloved Chris:**

_For God's sake Dare, he is your friend! You can trust him. Just tell him already._

_Sweetie, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to push you. It's hard to use tone in texts._

_Dare, I said I'm sorry. I know this is hard for you. I shouldn't have said that._

Joey's jaw was pretty much on the floot, because he had joked about it, but he never actually expected Darren to be dating Chris. There was something about the way Darren talked about him, but he thought it was just admiring Chris' hard work and his strong personality. Joey looked up when he heard two beer bottles on the table. "Ehm Dare, do you have something to tell me?" He waved the phone at Darren.

"What?" Darren asked, but then he reminded himself that he was texting Chris earlier and it had probably something to do with that. He snatched the phone from Joey's hands and saw the text conversation Joey had just read. _Think. Think of something! _"Oh, no it's not what it looks like." He said as calmly as possible. "It's ehm, a thing."_ That didn't get you anywhere. _"We call each other Honey or Sweetie to ehm, to relate to the characters." He lied lamely.

"He said 'just tell me.'" Joey quoted the text because that couldn't really mean anything else.

Darren felt the heat raising in his face and his palms got sweaty. "We are going on tour!" Darren said the first thing that popped up in his mind. He immediately heard how stupid he was, because he had told Joey the second he found out about the tour. "Isn't that amazing?" He asked with a fake smile. He hoped the question made the lie more convincing, but Joey's expression told him it didn't.

"It is," Joey agreed. "but you had already told me." He informed Darren dryly.

"I had?" Darren pretended to have forgotten. "Oh silly me, planning this whole surprise for something I had already told you." He laughed nervously to himself.

"You're sweating." Joey observed.

Darren pulled at the collar of his shirt. "It's warm in here."

"No it's not."

"It is!" Darren almost yelled.

There was a loud silence between them. Joey didn't know what to say. They were getting off the point, but Darren was obviously tense. It was clear that Darren had been hiding a relationship, but the real questions were: for how long and why. "You don't have to actually say it, the texts and this paranoid behavior are doing it for you." Joey told him and Darren hung his head. "Is it what it looks like?" Joey asked him calmly.

Darren felt guilty for denying it. He felt mostly guilty because he had promised Chris to tell his friends, but when one found out he denied it. It was te perfect opportunity to tell Joey. He couldn't look back at it and have the excuse of it being the wrong time to bring it up. He could only look back and think that he was a scared little boy who would rather live an unconvincing lie than tell his best friend about the one he loved. "Yes" Was all he said.

"This is amazing!" Joey quickly pulled his phone out of his pocket. "Walker will worship the ground you walk on when he hears this!" He spoke enthusiastically with a big grin across his face.

"Hey!" Darren warned and grabbed the phone out of Joey's hands. "No, please don't tell anyone?" He pleaded.

"Why not?"

"I want to tell them in person." Darren lied quickly. He knew there was no point when all the Starkids would be together at the same time.

"There's only one way to do that, right?" Darren gave him a confused look. Usually all the Starkids were in different states, sometimes different countries even. "We have a huge meeting in Chicago in two weeks. Almost everyone will be there. You should come too and bring Chris."

_Okay first of all why didn't I know about the meeting. _Yes, Darren couldn't make it to most meetings, but just not telling him anymore was a bit harsh. _Secondly, Chris and the Starkids together. That would be a great opportunity to inform them about my new situation._ "I- I-" Darren considered it, nervously picking at his finger nails. "Okay," He agreed to the plan before he could stop himself. "I'll see if we're free then."

Joey gave him a supportive hug "Also, should I give you the whole 'I love you no matter what' speech, or do you get that by now?" He asked, not sure if it was needed in the situation.

"I could never get tired of hearing how much you love me." Darren joked.

The hours after that passed in the relaxed mood they were used to around each other. It was evening already when Darren remembered he had never texted Chris back. He immediately reached for his phone and walked to the kitchen while dialing the number.

Chris answered after the first ring. "Darren, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. I-"

"No, Honey, it's fine. I'm sorry." Darren apologized for forgetting to answer Chris. "I left my phone with Joey after I texted you." He explained. Darren took a deep breath before continuing. "He found out about us and we're going to a big Starkid meeting in Chicago. So I was planning on telling my friends then. And I was hoping you'd come with me when I go. I know they're not my parents, but I promised to tell my friends. And I know I haven't kept that promise so far, but yeah, I'm going to tell them." Darren finished, gripping the phone tightly and leaning against the counter.

"I'll check if I have time." Chris said, glad that Darren was finally taking that step. "When is it?" Darren gave Chris the details with a big smile on his face. He waited patiently for Chris to check his schedule. "If I can shift some things in my schedule, I would be able to get away for a few days. I have a lot of writing to do, but I can do that in Chicago too."

"That would be great." Darren breathed.


	14. Chapter 14

"Okay everyone, that's a wrap!" Ian announced after watching the scene and deciding they had all the material they needed.

Chris checked the time on his phone and smiled when he saw everything was going how he had planned. It was Friday and they wrapped up all their scenes relatively early. He skipped over to Darren. "Wanna watch a movie at my place tonight?" He whispered in Darren's ear from behind.

"Yeah, sure." Darren answered as he turned around so peck Chris on the lips.

Chris knew Darren wasn't expecting anything, so he decided to make his intentions a little clearer. He watched Darren closely with his eyes half lidded for a moment. He thought it over once more. "And by 'watching a movie' I mean not watching it at all." He finally said.

Darren's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "R-really? I thought after the _accident_ " Darren whispered "we were laying low on the sexy times." Darren was flabbergasted. He wasn't prepared to hear that, but he pulled his shit together before Chris could think he was in panic.

"What made you imply that?" Chris asked, but he knew why. He had freaked out and drowned Darren in a stream of apologies even after Darren had said it was alright. And they hadn't really talked about it after their first try failed. "I think that you're very brave for making serious plans to tell your friends about us. So I think it's only fair for me to be brave too." He said, completely ignoring the people around them. They were talking low and quite enough for no one to hear. Not like anyone was paying attention to them. They just wanted to clear up their stuff and go home for the weekend. "For real this time." Chris added.

Darren didn't like those words. He didn't want Chris to do it because he was taking a step. "I don't want us to keep score." Darren protested.

"We're not keeping score." Chris chuckled. "It's not a football match where we can make goals or whatever it's called when they throw that ball thing between those big stick kind of things." He waved his hands around, hoping he was making _some_ sense.

Darren giggled at Chris' face when he was talking about football. "Your football knowledge is outstanding." He told him sarcastically and received a light punch on the arm in return.

"Shut up. What I wanted to say was that I made a start and, as you know, I never leave something unfinished."

Darren pecked Chris' lips again. "Okay." He agreed. "Let's go." He grabbed Chris' hand and walked him to his trailer so he could get changed. Of course Darren left for his own trailer, because they would safe the undressing in front of each other for later.

They met at Chris' car when they were both done changing out of their costumes. The drive to Chris' apartment was filled with chatter, holding hands and stares. Occasionally they let out a nervous giggle when they remembered what events were to come that night. Darren was still talking about- well he had absolutely forgotten when Chris opened the door to his apartment.

The lights were dimmed to give the room an intimate glow. All the furniture was gone except for a round dinner table for two that was set with a candles and everything needed for a romantic dinner. There were blankets and pillows spread out in front of the fireplace. The fire was lit and filling the room with a sensual warmth. Darren had begged Chris several times to lit the fireplace, but Chris had always told him no, because he never felt like cleaning up the mess. But tonight it was lit and it seemed to make the night even more romantic.

"Oh my god." Darren managed to get out when he finished taking in every detail. It was all so magical. Literally magical he realized, because Chris had been at work all day. It was simply impossible he had set that up. "How did you do all this?"

Chris blushed and rubbed his neck. "You might want to avoid Ashley for a while." He murmured. Darren kept that in mind, because Ashley knew that they did it, how and where. She would probably be unbearable to be around for a good amount of time. "Do you like it?" He asked, wondering if it was too much.

"Like it? I absolutely love it!" Darren exclaimed and hugged Chris tightly for a moment. Then he looked around the room again. "Why did you do all this?" He asked when his eyes finally found Chris' again.

"Well," Chris let his hands travel down Darren's arms. "it didn't really worked out the other night." He said and took both of Darren's hands in his. "But maybe that was a good thing. I realized that this is sort of your first time too. And I'm not a hopeless romantic, but you are. So, I wanted to make this special for both of us." He explained while playing with the other man's fingers.

Darren leaned up to place a sweet kiss on Chris' lips. He knew the slow kiss carried more meaning than a 'thank you'. He had never thought of it like that, but it was true. He was losing his virginity again. When they parted Darren couldn't help the smile lighting up his face. Chris returned the smile and even showed some teeth. It was the most beautiful thing Darren had ever seen.

After a enjoying their tasty dinner and sharing several 'I love you's they made their way to the blankets and pillows in front of the fireplace. "I'm just kind of nervous." Chris confessed.

"Why?"

"I- I don't look like you." Chris answered shyly, feeling kind of stupid for bringing his insecurities up at a time like that.

Darren just shook his head and stared in his eyes. "You're a butterfly." He blurted out.

Chris frowned, because, as far as he knew, he was a human. "What?"

"What are butterflies?" Darren asked in all seriousness.

Chris was wondering if he ended up in a weird dream. He decided to answer anyway. "Insects?"

Darren chuckled. "True, Mr. Scientist. But the word I was looking for is beautiful. They can't see their own wings, so they can't see their own beauty. But the rest of the world can." Darren explained. "You're just like them." Chris let out a breathy giggle. "And now you're laughing at me because I'm being too sappy." Darren rolled his eyes at himself.

"I'm _smiling_ because I love you and sappy is what you are, so I love it."

"I love you too." Darren sensed the tension was gone and he saw his chance to comfort Chris with words that didn't include insects. "It will be fine. Just do whatever feels right and please don't puke this time." He joked.

"I'm still so sorry for that." Chris apologized for what seemed like the thousandth time.

"Stop apologizing," Darren ordered. "I was kidding. You can puke if you feel the need to."

Chris sighed. "Can we please stop talking about it? It was so embarrassing."

"There's nothing to be ashamed of." Darren promised him before pressing a reassuring kiss on his love's lips. That kiss ended in a night of soft touches, broken moans and meaningful love making.


	15. Chapter 15

Darren slowly pushed the door open with his foot. He watched his sleeping boyfriend as he walked to the bed and set the tray with food at the end of the bed. He crawled on the bed behind Chris and stroke through his hair. Chris slowly began to stir. "Rise and shine, baby." Darren whispered before placing a soft kiss on Chris' cheek.

Chris lazily opened his eyes and turned his head to face Darren. "Good morning." He whispered back when a smiled found his lips. Darren grabbed the tray from the other end of the bed. He proudly showed the food he had prepared. It wasn't really fancy, because Darren wasn't exactly good in the kitchen, but it looked delicious. "Oh Darren, you made breakfasts?"

"Sure did." He replied with a big grin. "You looked so adorable, I just couldn't wake you up." He ruffled Chris' hair and waited for him to sit up.

Chris tried to press his hair down in order to flat it out, but he failed. "Ugh my bed hair must look ridiculous." He groaned and threw the covers off his legs. "I'll go-"

Darren cut him off with a passionate kiss on his lips. "It's adorable." He said, stroking through Chris' thick locks. "Please leave it like this." Darren tugged his legs in again and got under the comforter next to Chris. They snuggled close together and fed each other their toast with jam and cucumber sandwiches. "I tried to make pancakes." Darren admitted shyly. Chris raised his eyebrow, because he couldn't find any pancakes on the tray. "I failed." He explained to Chris who chuckled in return.

When they had finished all the toast, sandwiches and orange juice they leaned back against the headboard. "We should pack." Chris sighed, but didn't make a move.

"I know." Darren confirmed, but didn't move a muscle either.

After a short silence Chris let out a giggle. Darren joined in after a moment. "Why aren't we packing yet?" Chris asked when their laughter had died down.

"Because I love you so much." Darren whispered his answer against Chris' lips before pressing them together.

"I love you too." Chris replied and another kiss followed. Darren rolled them over so he was on top. "But we need to start packing if we want to be done in time." Chris said and chuckled at the groan Darren let out.

Because they traveled a lot, packing was a practiced task and they were done just in time to have lunch and catch their plane.

* * *

><p>When they arrived in Chicago there was a guy with their rental car waiting for them. Several Starkids had offered to pick Darren up, but he had rejected their offers. He wanted to have a quite ride with Chris before he dragged his boyfriend in to the crazy tornado that was called 'Starkid'. Darren pulled up in front of the building his friends practiced in. He turned off the car and placed his hands on his knees. "I'm nervous." He admitted and dared to send Chris an innocent look.<p>

"I know." Chris sighed and grabbed Darren's hand. He brought it to his lips and kissed the palm. Darren found the gesture strangely comforting for a moment. Chris saw Darren swallow when he dropped their linked hands again. "Listen, I know I pushed you and I'm sorry. I thought you just needed some help. If you really don't want to do this we can wait a little longer. I'll just be your close friend and a Starkid fanboy who just wants to meet the cast of his favorite musical." Chris gave Darren's hand a reassuring squeeze.

"No," Darren shook his head firmly. "I have to do this." Chris was about to protest, but Darren beat him in being the first to speak. "You deserve someone who shows how proud he is to be with you. And I want to show just that." Chris wanted to tell him that he didn't need those things if it made Darren uncomfortable, but he was silenced by a press of Darren's lips against his. And who was he to argue with that?

Darren jumped out of the car and opened Chris' door with a goofy grin and a bow. Chris rolled his eyes at him and got out, not even trying to be elegant. Darren grabbed his hand and led him into the building. The women at the reception smiled at Darren and held her hand up for a high five.

"Darren! I haven't seen you for too long!" She exclaimed cheery. Then she noticed Chris and gave him a knowing smile. "They're in hall four." She said and Darren thanked her and promised her they would catch up soon.

They walked to the door that led to hall four. Darren stopped them and Chris watched him patiently. "I love you." Was all Darren said.

"I love you too." Chris said. And Darren pushed the door open to reveal a big sports hall where a enormous group of people dancing around the room and talking about music, dance moves, props and dialog. When the people noticed Darren in the doorway, everyone stopped their actions and faced the door. They started shouting greetings at him and Darren stepped in to the room and made place for Chris to appear in the doorway. Everything went absolutely silent again.

"Team Starkid," Darren broke the silence. "this is Chris Colfer." He introduced Chris. Then he slid his hand in Chris'. "My boyfriend."

Everyone's eyes went wide. And there was that absolute silence again.


	16. Chapter 16

**Warning: This chapter contains offensive language.**

* * *

><p><strong><em>"Team Starkid," Darren broke the silence. "this is Chris Colfer." He introduced Chris. Then he slid his hand in Chris'. "My boyfriend."<em>**

**_Everyone's eyes went wide. And there was that absolute silence again._**

* * *

><p>"You own me fifty bugs, Holden!" Lauren was the first to break the silence. All of a sudden the room was filled with noise. There were people shouting things among the lines of 'I bought up this month' 'No man, that was the other bet'. Darren and Chris stood there in the doorway, rapidly blinking their eyes at the people handing money to each other.<p>

"Guys!" Darren yelled to silence them, but it was no use. He rolled his eyes and stepped into the room. "Guys!" He tried again, but this time he was succeeding.

Dylan was the only one who hadn't noticed everyone had gone quite. "I knew he was gay three years ag-" His voice awkwardly died down when he noticed everyone was staring at him.

"Can you al be a little less yourself and have a normal introduction for once?" Darren asked the group of his friends. "We try it again." He offered. "Team Starkid, this is Chris. Chris, this is Team Starkid."

"Hi, I'm Joe." Out of nowhere there was someone in front of Chris who he recognized as Lord Voldemort. He tried his best not to squeal. They shook hands enthusiastically. "You know," Joe started, still shaking Chris' hand. "I'm way better looking than Darren." He said and Chris didn't know what to do with that information. "Like my abbs are so much better."

"Okay?" Chris answered and he looked over to Darren to ask him wordlessly what was going on.

"You're his celebrity crush." Darren explained when he got the silent question. "I should have warned you." He shot him an apologetic smile.

"I thought you were straight." Chris stated when Joe finally released his hand.

"I thought we had established people make exceptions for you." Darren answered for Joe and slipped his arm around Chris' waist.

"Okay we get it. You're cute as fuck together. Now I need to go brush my teeth. They're rotting because of your sugary sweet behaviour." Joe said a little annoyed.

"You're just jealous because I'm your crush' boyfriend." Darren teased, completely forgotten about the tension he was feeling earlier.

"I'm most certainly not." Joe argued with his head held high.

"He is." Darren whispered in Chris' ear.

"But really if you ever need to take your mind off things I'm right here." Joe let Chris know with one last wink.

"Noted." Chris said jokingly which received an offended glare from Darren. After that Chris was being embraced by every member of the Starkid family. He tried to keep his fanboying to a minimum, because he didn't want to embarrass himself in front of those people. After way to many times of 'I'm your biggest fan' 'No I'm _your_ biggest fan!' Chris left the Starkids to do their work and he went to his hotel room to write.

* * *

><p>When Chris heard a knock on the door later he expected it to be Darren, because they shared the room. He opened the door with a bright smile on his face. The smile turned in to a confused expression when he saw the Starkid girls were the people who had knocked. "Hi," Chris greeted them politely. "I wasn't expecting you. What are you doing here?" He looked in to the hallway and saw it was indeed all of the girls. "All of you." He stated, surprised by the number of people squeezed in the small corridor.<p>

"You can't just stay in here." Jaime told him.

"Come on." Julia whined.

"Get out we're kidnapping you." Lauren took him by his wrist, ready too pull him out of his hotel room.

"No," Chris rejected their offer, shaking his head. "sorry I have a great storyline in my mind and-" He cut himself off, because Lauren pulled him out of his room. "woah!" He cried when he almost flopped forward, surprised by the strength that came out of the small women. They shut the door behind him quickly. "My wallet, key and phone are in there." Chris whined, knowing that was exactly what they wanted. He couldn't go in his room anymore.

"Don't worry we'll take care of you." They assured him and Chris didn't know if he was comforted or scared by their words.

"Shouldn't you be rehearsing?" Chris asked them when they pushed him through the lobby on their way to the exit.

"No." Denise simply answered without elaborating.

"The guys gave us a day off." Meredith explained and Chris seriously started to get freaked out about how they all talked as one person. They kept finishing each others' sentences.

"What do you guys have in mind for me?" He gave himself a mental pat on the shoulder for daring to ask. But he still was terrified for the answer, because he had heard Darren's stories.

"Whatever you want." Ali answered.

They saw the slightly frightened expression on Chris's face. "Don't worry," Arielle soothed him. "Darren made us promise to return you in one piece." She patted him on the back.

"How nice of him." Chris said sarcastically and the girls laughed a little. "Let's just get some lunch and talk. Get to know each other a little better." He offered.

"Sounds good." Was the general reaction.

The girls dragged him to a modern looking place that served the best sandwiches in all of Chicago according to them. "So Chris," Devin started when they settled down at the tables they had pushed together. "what great trick did you pull to get Darren to fall for you?"

Chris opened his mouth and tried to remember what pulled the trigger. "I didn't really do anything." He answered thoughtfully. "It just sort of happened. Somehow it all came naturally to us. And these things never come naturally to me, so it was just great luck."

They all smiled at him. "I can't believe how cute you are." Meredith squealed.

"What did his parents say?"

Chris didn't really know who asked. He narrowed his eyes at his plate. "They don't know." He spoke quickly.

"What?" Julia asked, so he figured she was the one who asked the previous question too.

"They don't know about us yet." He repeated. "It's a big deal for him to tell them. He was really obnoxious to tell you guys too, but I strongly encouraged him to." Was his explanation. "I don't know if he has ever told you about Mason?" He looked around the table to see if the girls were following.

"Well," Devin shifted her seat. "he hasn't told us, but we know about him."

"Well, he really regrets going back in the closet back then. He thinks it makes him look weak if he comes out again." He told them, only slightly sadly.

"Oh Honey." Ali shot him a sympathetic smile.

"It has nothing to do with you, you know that right?" Lauren asked him. Chris nodded eagerly to let her know he knew. "He seems all rainbows and cotton candy, but he can really overt think things." She went on. "And sometimes he over thinks them the wrong way."

"Actually," Chris started to lighten the mood again. "he might have whispered today we can go to see his parents soon." He told them with excitement. He didn't know what about the group made him open up, but he figured he liked it. They were like a big family welcoming him.

"You'll love them." Devin told him enthusiastically.

"I can totally imagine Cerina squeezing your cheeks" Lauren reached over the table to pinch his cheeks and forced to shake his head. "and saying 'You are way to skinny! Have some of my awesome food!'" She said in a fake accent and let go of his cheeks.

Chris laughed and rubbed his burning cheeks. Even though they hurt his face he could help but fall in love with the girls. "You are going to put on some weight over there, be prepared." Meredith warned him.

Chris pretended to think about that. "Maybe I should stay far, far away from her." He grabbed his stomach. "I've worked so hard for these abbs and I'd like to keep them." The girls all laughed.

* * *

><p>"I have to go." Darren got up from the couch he had been seated on. "Jul texted me they kidnapped Chris and locked him out of our room, they said they will return him in about fifteen minutes." He explained before his friends could get to an attempt to force him to stay. He yawned while putting his guitar in its case. "And I really want to sleep some." Another yawn.<p>

They gasped dramatically at his last sentence. "The mighty Darren Criss is out of energy? Who are you and what did you do to my friend?" Joe Moses choked out.

"Sleep? That's not like you at all!" Nick exclaimed with wide eyes.

Darren chuckled at his friends fake amazement. "I had an eventful day." Was his excuse.

* * *

><p>Darren sat at the table and glanced at Chris. Chris gave him a smile and a nod to encourage him. "Mom, dad, Chuck," Darren asked for their attention. "I have something to tell you guys. I don't really know how to say this." Then he remembered that wasn't true. "Well, I do, because I've already done it once."<p>

Chuck laughed shortly. "Are you coming out again?" He mocked and laughed some more.

Darren held his chin a little higher. "Actually, yes I am." He smiled proudly. "Chris is my boyfriend." They shared a quick look.

"What?" Darren's father asked with a blank face and a harsh tone.

"I'm in love with Chris." He repeated himself and slid his arm around Chris' waste.

Charles slammed his fist down on the kitchen table. "Again?" He yelled. "You're choosing for a fag, again?" He asked. Darren couldn't answer. He was sitting in his chair, eyes wide and unshed tears tickling the corners. He looked at his mother, hoping she would know what to do, but she refused to meet his eye. "I thought you went trough that phase in high school!" His father continued. "We barely managed to keep a straight face back then, but I won't let this happen again!" Charles was standing, his hands leaning on the table in front of him. "Chris, get out of my house!" He pointed one hand towards the door. "I don't want the poison in my house that turned my son into a freak!" He hissed angrily.

Darren stood up and knocked his chair over in the process. "Don't talk to him like that!" He defended his speechless boyfriend.

"You're choosing his side?" Charles asked and crossed his arms over his chest. "Fine, but I don't want to see you ever again!"

_Chuck. He'll help me._ "Chuck, help me out?" Darren asked him desperately, still glaring at his father. "Brother?" He begged when he got no response. He turned his head to look at his brother and found an icy glare dedicated to himself.

"You're not my brother anymore." He said and got up to drag Chris violently out of the house.

"Darren!" Chris screamed and struggled against Chuck, but Chuck won. "Darren!" He tried to run to Chris, but all of a sudden everything was shaking. "Darren, Darren!" Chris called in a hushed voice to wake him up. Darren's eyes shot open and all he saw was darkness and Chris' pale face.

"What's wrong?" Chris wiped some sweat off his forehead. "Dare, honey? What's wrong?" He caressed Darren's cheek with his thumb.

Darren swallowed thickly. "They hate me." He said and Chris pulled him in close.

"Darren, it was just a bad dream." He whispers in his ear. "Sweetie, no one hates you. I love you."

"I can't do it." Darren manages to get out. Chris didn't argue, even though he wants to.


	17. Chapter 17

"Guys?" A muffled voice called for them at the other side of the hotel door. When the call wasn't answered the person slammed on the door.

"What?" Darren asked, vaguely recognizing the voice from one of his friends.

"What are they doing here?" Chris rubbed his eyes sleepily. "Have they got any idea what time it is?" He glanced at the alarm clock next to his bed and saw it was 7:18.

Another bang on the door. "Guys, you might wanna open up!" Darren could make out Joey's voice.

"Some of us need sleep!" Darren yelled and pulled the pillow over his head to block out the noise.

Lauren decided to end the pointless argument. "Open that door right now!" All of a sudden Darren was up and Chris was straight up in the bed. Apparently Lauren was angry. That never happened, so something was going on.

Darren reached for the doorknob three times, because he wasn't wearing any glasses or contacts. "What is going on?" He asked when he was pushed aside by a his friends.

They turned around and pushed a newspaper in Darren's face. Darren tried his best to adjust his eyes to read what it said, but it was difficult. "What is that?" Chris asked from the bed. "Did you wake us up to bring us a newspaper?" He could totally imagine them doing that. Although, it was kind of an aggressive way to-

"No. No. No." The paper fell out of Darren's hands. "This can't be happening." Chris wondered what was in the paper that got Darren so awake and upset. _Did Katy Perry die?_ "When did this come out?" Darren pointed at the offensive piece of paper on the floor.

"This morning." Joey answered sadly.

"What happened?" Chris was the only person in the room who didn't know what had happened. For all he knew, Katy Perry died.

Darren collapsed on the edge of the bed. "I haven't even told my parents yet." He said in his hands.

That could only mean one thing. Chris crawled over the bed and threw himself at the newspaper on the floor and flipped it over to see what news was on the cover. It said 'Glee star goes gay' in big black letters. And he was awake as well. To make things worse, there were pictures of them in the rental car the previous day. They were in the parking lot. The first one showed Chris kissing the palm of Darren's hand, the second one showed them kissing in the car and the last one was a picture of them walking to the building with linked hands. The pictures were way too clear to even try to deny it was them. "Oh my god." Chris hid his face in the paper. "Oh god." He whispered again.

Joey picked that moment to point out there were hundreds of journalists waiting for them at the entrance of the hotel. Darren, Chris and Lauren shot him a mean glance for his bad timing.

"I'm so sorry." Chris apologized to Darren and sat next to him on the bed.

"No you didn't do anything." Darren swallowed when he realised that article probably said Chris had turned him gay. "It's not your fault they took those pictures. I kissed you, I held your hand." Darren blamed himself.

Chris didn't want Darren to think he did anything to cause the mess they were in. They should be able to just kiss each other without people forcing their private lives out in the world. Chris didn't want Darren to blame himself, whoever took those pictures and sold them to the media was the one to blame. "It's not your fault either, it's theirs." Chris waved at the newspaper on the floor.

Darren picked the article up and looked at it. He tried not to read the words, because he didn't want to care, but he still saw that they called him a liar and Chris a turner. He even caught a glimpse of a sentence that suggested Chris had forced himself up on him. "What if my parents see this? They'll- they'll-"

Before he could finish his sentence Lauren was in front of him. Her hands were on his cheeks and she forced him to look at her. She knew exactly what he wanted to say. "Darren! Get your shit together!" Lauren ordered him firmly. "This happened, there's nothing you can do about it. Do you have so little trust in your parents? They love you, this won't change anything. Stop whining, man up and call them. What do you think it's like for your boyfriend who is sitting right next to you? How do you think this makes him feel?"

"I- I'm sorry." Darren whispered to her, puppy eyes full of tears.

"Don't apologize to _me_." Lauren sounded like she was about to slap him. Darren looked at her, terrified.

He turned to Chris. He wrapped his arms around his boyfriend and silently let his tears fall. "I'm sorry, Chris." He whispered, so only Chris could hear. "I'll call them." He promised. "Right now." Darren started looking for his phone.

Joey quickly stopped him. "Wait," He said. "there are about fifty people with cameras out there." He pointed at the window. I think you should get away from here and we can deal with patents and stuff later. How about you guys come to my place?" He offered. Chris and Darren quickly put on some clothes. They were grateful for their sunglasses and hats when they saw Joey hadn't been joking about the journalists. Joey and Lauren tried to free a path to the car in the group of people. The journalists immediately started flashing pictures and yelling questions at them. They just kept their heads down and walked to the car. When they were in the backseat they allowed themselves to breath again.

Halfway to Joey's place Darren's phone started ringing. The name on the screen told him it was Travis. His manager. He thought about not picking up for a moment, because he knew Travis would be mad. But then he realised he would be angrier if he would ignore him. He pressed the answer button and heard Travis' voice immediately. "How can you be so stupid?" Travis yelled into the phone.

Darren swallowed and took Chris' hand. "We have always been very careful. It was this one time that we acted like a couple in public." He told Travis, because it was the truth. "We are in Chicago, how are we supposed to expect some paparazzo is following us to a random parking lot?" Darren said frustrated. He didn't get why someone would do that. Why couldn't they just let him live his life?

"Just- calm down." Travis tried to sound as calm as possible. He knew Darren didn't like the situation either. "I know you're under stress right now, but there isn't anything we can do about this." It was the harsh truth and they all knew it. "It's out there, everyone knows. You can't deny this."

"I know." Darren sighed into the phone.

"You can either choose to give the people the story or wait until everything blows over." Travis left the choice to Darren. He didn't try to steer him by recommending either of the choices. "It will wear out, Darren." He promised.

"I know." He looked over at Chris. "Ehm, I don't know what Chris wants, but I would like to just let everyone be. I won't deny the relationship anymore, but I don't feel the need to throw my private life any more into the public eye than it already is. But I'll discuss it with Chris and I'll get back to you." He said. He knew they had to talk about what they wanted to tell the world, but he knew they would come to te right decision together. "I just have to talk to my family first and all that." Darren said when he saw they had arrived at Joey's place.

Travis laughed lightly. "I would say good luck, but I don't think you'll need it."

The second Darren hung up the phone it was ringing again. He looked at the screen to find out his mother was calling. He looked at the people in the room and slowly brought the phone to his ear. "Hi mom." He said, his voice broken.

"Darren." She said with a warning tone.

"I know. You've heard." Darren whispered. "It's true." He confirmed, waiting for his mom's response.

"Darren, I'm very disappointed in you." She said. Darren almost broke out in tears. Everyone had told him his parents wouldn't mind. Everyone had been wrong.

"D-disappointed?" He sniffed, jerking away when Chris put an arm around his shoulder.

"Why didn't you tell us you've been dating someone?" His mother asked him in the voice she had always used to make Darren feel guilty. "Do you know how weird it is to find out my son is in a relationship through national television?" Darren was surprised she didn't mention the relationship was with a man. Maybe everyone hadn't been wrong after all.

"I'm sorry." Darren said, because he couldn't not feel guilty when his mother sounded like that.

"You better be bringing Chris over soon." She demanded. "I want to meet him properly and I haven't seen you in too long." Darren looked at Chris and smiled to let him know everything was okay. "My own son has become a stranger to me." She said. The sentence wasn't hinting on that Darren had a boyfriend, but that he hadn't been home for too long.

"I love you, mom." He whispered as if it was a secret.

"I love you too." She said and then she was gone.

Apparently Chuck was home, because he was the one who grabbed the phone out of his mother's hands. "Dude, no. Not cool." Chuck said into the phone.

Darren's heart broke. "Chuck!" Darren heard his father's warning voice in the background.

"No, I mean I lost the bet because of you." Chuck explained his rude greeting.

_Wait, bet? He knew about the bet all along? _"You were in the bet?" Darren asked, surprised by how he is not surprised. He should have seen that it coming.

"You knew about the bet?" Chuck sounded actually offended. "Why didn't you plan your coming out a little better? You could have earned me a lot of money."

Darren gaped at the comment, not knowing how to respond. "I was sort of struggling with myself." He explained, even though he wasn't sure why he was the one explaining his actions. "Sorry for not letting you know sooner." He said sarcastically.

"Man, it's old news." Chuck brushed it off. "We were just waiting for you to finally admit it."

"You what?" _Old news? How can it be old news? It's new news._

"Dare, we're your family, we know you." Chuck told him. Then Darren realised he fucking loved his family and they fucking loved him.


End file.
